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Pre-Third War Conflicts in Kalimdor
Kalimdor is as vast as it is ancient. Although many of its denizens are tribal & not recorders of history, the eternal ancients and the once immortal Night Elves have witnessed thousands of years of the continent's history. Although small skirmishes are likely lost to memory, the larger & more enduring conflicts remain in some memories of the Sentinel outriders and rare wandering adventurer, scout, or druid who were drawn to the regions. Tauren/Quilboar/Centaur Conflicts Contact between Quilboar, Tauren, and Centaur rarely resulted in more than bloodshed & broken bones. Though neither of these three races hold written histories, stone carvings, Night Elven stories, oral history along with research done by archaeologists & 'extremely interested parties' provide context of several notably fierce wars & conflicts that took place within the last 10,000 years. These include: *'The War of the Emerging Plains': First major Tauren/Quilboar war after the War of the Ancients' conclusion. As the majestic forests that once existed in central Kalimdor began to disappear, the Tauren & Quilboar fought for control of the remaining forestlands. *'First Reclamation of Mulgore': A Tauren war against the Centaur to retake Mulgore, ultimately failing in their goal. Noted for giving rise to the legend of 'Amasth the Impassable', a Tauren brave who held off siege after siege of Centaur attacks before falling, allowing for his tribesmen to escape. *'The (First) Great Feud': An inter-tribal conflict between Tauren. The outcome resulted in a tribal alliance between primarily the Grimtotem, Bloodhoof, and Stormhorn tribes which defeated a number of other tribes whose names have been lost to history. *'Blood of the Tomahawk War': First known Quilboar invasion of Mulgore. Originally believed to be a series of battles taking place during The Great Feud, the Tomahawk War became known thanks to the discovery of a hidden chasm beneath parts of eastern Mulgore. This chasm revealed numerous wall carvings and paintings dated to several decades after the Great Feud that were found to correlate with a series of Tauren stories that were part of the Stonehoof and Thunderhorn Tribe's oral traditions. The origin of the name 'Blood of the Tomahawk' appears to relate to Stonehoof weaponmasters using Quilboar blood to forge their bladed weapons, a practice that arose during this era and may have its origin in this conflict. *'Krokis Centaur Conquest of the Razorfen': A warband of Centaur under a Khan named Krokis launch an assault on the Quilboar stronghold known as the Razorfen. This unofficial capital of the Quilboar people is where the demigod Agamaggan fell and is thus held as sacred territory by all Quilboar, although had very few actual Quilboar living within the briars in this era. The Krokis' subsequent purge gave the warband full control of the Razorfen. *'Genocide of the Krokis Centaur': The immediate aftermath of this Conquest and defiling of territory held sacred by the Quilboar led to an unprecedented assault by all Quilboar tribes. Abandoning holdings fought over for generations to engage in war against the Centaur and reclaim the Razorfen, the Quilboar tribes swarmed the Razorfen. Over the course of several months this violent siege saw the deaths of tens of thousands of Quilboar but the warband's defenses were eventually broken. Those not immediately slain were hunted down by the Quilboar tribes and brought back to the Razorfen for ritualistic torture and execution. The bones of the Krokis centaur litter the grounds of the Razorfen to this day, ancient reminders of a forgotten war. *'The Needle Wars': Cut off from the Barrens after the destruction of the Krokis Centaur and the Quilboar's reclamation of the Razorfen, various smaller tribes of Centaur in the Thousand Needles warred among each other as much as they warred with the Tauren. The Salt Flats were often blood-soaked killing fields in this war that lasted for centuries. The strength of the Galak tribe of Centaur eventually overcome the fury of the smaller warbands. The names of these bands would not survive into legend, but this era is held up by the Galak as a pinnacle of their power and dominance among the ranks of the Centaur people. *'The Thunderbreaker Assault': A brief alliance of exiled Tauren banding together in an attempt to carve out their own territory. Calling themselves Thunderbreakers, these Tauren began a campaign of enslavement to further their new tribal power. Harpies, Quilboar, other Tauren, and Night Elves became targets to these renegades. The Thunderbreakers eventually collapsed due to infighting stoked by clever Sentinels and allies made among other Tauren tribes. Notable for their attempt to establish control over the territory that would eventually become known as 'Durotar'. *'Great Totem War': Although Shaman are heeded by all three peoples and had been for untold centuries beforehand, this war was noted as one where Shaman had become heavily militant, leading to a catastrophic destruction of the remainder of the forests within central Kalimdor as elementals became common sights on the battlefields during this war. It would take centuries for oases to emerge, but the land forever more would be known as 'The Barrens'. *'The Second Great Feud': Tribal alliances that resulted following the end of the First Great Feud began to erode and a new Tauren war erupted upon the revelation of the Stormhorn Tribe allying itself with several Centaur clans in order to claim Mulgore for themselves. This ultimately resulted in the Stormhorn's destruction. *'Blood Moons War': The two moons of Azeroth, the White Lady & Blue Child, both became red for almost a week. This celestial event inspired the Quilboar, Centaur, and Tauren to fight each other, all in belief that the bloody moons symbolized favor for their people. Noted for ending abruptly when the red haze lifted and nearly all combatants ceasing hostilities. *'Desolace Tribal Feuding': Multiple clan wars among Centaur in the lands of Mashan'she, later known as Desolace. Night Elven, Satyr, and even Tauren involvement in these conflicts occurred but these conflicts stemmed primarily from feuds between Centaur khans and other leading figures. Lasting anywhere from decades to absurdly short periods of time (mocked by some Sentinels as 'weekend wars'), battles and skirmishes occurred regularly from the rise of the Centaur even until the post-Third War era. These wars ended briefly with the rise of the Aratas the High Khan, although the army's defeat at the hands of the New Horde divided the clans once more and some clans would return to feuding with their ancestral Centaur enemies. *'The Centaur Expansion': Concurrently with the feuding in Desolace, other Centaur tribes who had either been forced from Desolace through defeat in battle or were unwilling to engage in the ongoing feuds of larger clans chose to move out to other regions in central Kalimdor. Attempts to establish control in the lands of Feralas were generally met with fierce resistance from Night Elven sentinels, while other clans were more successful in Stonetalon Mountains and later into Mulgore and the Barrens. Other clans had previously moved into the Barrens but this mass movement of larger clans who had become battle-hardened by clan warfare in their homeland would prove to be a destructive force, dominating swathes of territory for centuries. These Centaur clan fiefdoms were collectively referred to as the 'centaur empire' by some, although they had no singular ruler to speak of and rarely, if ever, held a common meeting among clan leaders. This clan empire would be shattered by the union of Tauren, Orcs, and Jungle Trolls with the rise of the New Horde in central Kalimdor. Night Elven Conflicts Night Elves were not immune to war despite their newly acquired immortality. Although their policing of Kalimdor allowed for near immediate destruction of hostile cults and magic cabals, many of the early conflicts were unavoidable remnants of the War of the Ancients while later conflicts were results of geographic isolation that allowed enemies to build up forces away from the prying eyes and sharpened blades of the Sentinels. These include (in roughly chronological order): *'The Sandfury War': An early war between the Sandfury Trolls of Tanaris, the Highborne Empire, and Night Elven rebels. *'War of the Ancients': A devastating war that reshaped the face of Azeroth both literally and geopolitically. *'War of the Satyr': Destruction of the organized satyr society that had been created at the end of the War of the Ancients. Notable for the first and only use of the Pack Form until millenia later. *'War of the Harpies': The Harpies invade Hyjal for access to the new Well at the World Tree. They are ultimately pushed off of Hyjal & out of Ashenvale entirely. *'Nightwater's Rebellion': A Highborne commander and veteran of the War of the Ancients by the name of Aevu'Ilas Nightwater had been in hiding with a force of Highborne warriors and a slew of magisters in a stronghold on the Tanaris coast, building their forces for an eventual war against the Kaldorei Sentinels and Druids. Eventually pressing north into the Thousand Needles and Dustwallow Marsh, Nightwater's forces were pushed back by Sentinels in Dustwallow and the centaur warbands of the Thousand Needles (veterans of the then century-old conflict of the Needle Wars) until eventually his fortress was assaulted by Faraki trolls. Lacking in soldiers and supplies, the fortress was taken and Nightwater believed to have been killed. *'First War of the Shifting Sands': The first war with the enigmatic Qiraji in the southern Silithus desert. Furbolg Conflicts Although the Furbolg were generally a peaceful people, they were not free of warfare in the ten millennia after the War of the Ancients. * One notable conflict was a prolonged feud along the Southfury River in the region that would become known as Azshara between three tribes of Furbolg: the Bladeteeth, the Stoneback, and the Moonpaw. Rallied into a frenzy by unknown chieftains, the three tribes were apparently at war with one another for two centuries before the Night Elven sentinels became aware of the conflict as the Night Elves had shifted their focus to hunting down Satyr and their demon allies. Eventually the Bladeteeth were found to have become corrupted by disguised Satyr and fed demon blood. However, the Satyr had died in battle many decades before but the corruption had persisted among succeeding generations of the Bladeteeth. The Sentinels were forced to intervene and wipe out the Bladeteeth, leading to the Stoneback and Moonpaw to agreeing to a peace and dividing the former Bladeteeth lands. Eventually the two tribes would war again and after an unknown period of time would disappear entirely, replaced by newer tribes. * A band of adventurous Furbolg would make their way into the Barrens in an effect to reach the fabled forestlands of Feralas. This band was captured by Tauren exiles known as the Thunderbreakers and brought into slavery. These Furbolg conspired with other slaves, Night Elven Sentinels, and groups of free Tauren to overthrow & defeat the Thunderbreakers. Other Conflicts ((Please feel free to add your own conflicts relevant to your fanon to this list. You are under no obligation to accept other conflicts listed here should you choose to add your own fanon conflict, but do not remove other conflicts listed should they contradict with your own fanon. The colloquial most commonly used to refer to the conflict {i.e. the War of the Ancients, War of the Satyr, etc.} and a paragraph synopsis of the conflict will suffice.)) Category:Tauren Category:Quilboar Category:Night Elf Category:Wars Category:Events